|
 The 14-story Antares rocket, built and launched by Orbital
Sciences Corp, blasted off from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility on
Wallops Island at 6:22 p.m. (2222 GMT) on Tuesday but burst into
flames moments later. It was the first disaster since the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration turned to private operators to
fly cargo to the space station.
While no one was hurt, witnesses said the explosion looked like a
"ball of fire" and shook buildings for miles.
"The explosion was a big boom - we could also feel it here, just the
ground shaking," said Shirley Lapole, assistant education
coordinator at the NASA Visitors Center, who was watching the launch
from about seven miles (11 km) away.
Initial inspections, completed on Wednesday, showed damage to the
tower that supports the rockets for launch and damage to the pad's
lightning protection system, NASA said. A more detailed inspection
is needed before engineers can assess how long repairs may take.
"The overall findings indicate the major elements of the launch
complex infrastructure, such as the pad and fuel tanks, avoided
serious damage, although some repairs will be necessary," Orbital
Sciences said in a statement.
 The rocket carried a Cygnus cargo ship with more than 5,000 pounds
(2,273 kg) of equipment and supplies for the station, a $100 billion
research laboratory owned and operated by 15 nations that orbits
about 260 miles (418 km) above Earth.
The area around the launch facility was cordoned off on Wednesday
and a helicopter circled overhead. The Cygnus mission was
non-military but the craft included classified cryptographic
equipment, said Mike Pinkston, Orbital's Antares program manager,
requiring heightened security.
Pieces of cloth-like debris were found scattered across Chincoteague
Island, just northeast of Wallops Island and about 100 miles (160
km) north of Norfolk on Virginia's Eastern Shore.
"GREAT LOSS"
Investigators will need days to determine where the failure began,
said Frank Culbertson, an Orbital executive vice president and
mission director, who placed the value of the rocket and cargo ship
at $200 million. The exact cause may take longer to ascertain and
correcting the problem could take months, he said. Meanwhile,
Orbital has grounded the Antares, which previously made four
flights, all successful.
Still, the loss of the supply vessel posed no immediate problem for
the orbiting station's six-member crew: two from NASA, one from the
European Space Agency and three Russians, officials said.
"It’s a great loss when you lose a vehicle like that ... but we
press on," NASA space station flight engineer Barry Wilmore said
during an in-flight interview on Wednesday. "We’ve got supplies to
last us four to six months."
The Antares rocket launched Tuesday included an enhanced
second-stage engine, which allowed an additional 800 pounds of cargo
to be loaded aboard Cygnus. It is not known whether the rocket's
extra weight and length were factors in the accident.
 Shares of Orbital, which agreed to buy Alliant Techsystems Inc's
aerospace and defense business in April, tumbled as low as $25.02
and closed down 16.8 percent at $25.27.
Alliant, also known as ATK, said it was conducting a "thorough
evaluation" of the deal, touted by the companies at the time as a $5
billion merger of equals. ATK shares closed down 6.5 percent at
$121.34.
Still, sources familiar with the situation said the deal was
unlikely to unravel.
"There is no specific provision in the merger agreement for a launch
failure," Orbital CEO David Thompson told analysts after ATK's
statement. "As far as I know, I think things will continue."
[to top of second column] |
ORBITAL'S NEXT LAUNCH SCHEDULED FOR APRIL
In other collateral damage, the explosion destroyed a small
satellite built by closely held Planetary Resources Inc with backing
from Google Inc CEO Larry Page, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson
and other well-known investors. The company intends to mine
asteroids for fuel, water and minerals. Dulles, Virginia-based
Orbital Sciences is one of two companies NASA has hired to fly cargo
to the station after NASA's space shuttles were retired in 2011.
Tuesday's flight was to be the third of eight under the company's
$1.9 billion contract. Its next launch had been slated for April
2015, according to internal NASA schedules.
The second U.S. supply line to the station is run by privately owned
Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, which is preparing its
fourth flight under a separate $1.6 billion NASA contract, slated
for Dec. 9.
The accident is unlikely to affect the existing contracts but could
influence the awarding of follow-up contracts that NASA is
soliciting.
Russia's Roskosmos space agency said it was ready to help ferry
extra U.S. cargo to the space station if NASA requested. The station
is overseen by Russia and the United States, whose relations are at
a low ebb over the Ukraine crisis.
In a long-scheduled mission, an unmanned Russian Progress supply
vehicle was launched from Kazakhstan hours after the explosion and
the capsule, carrying more than 5,000 pounds of food, fuel and
supplies, reached the station Wednesday morning.
RUSSIAN ROCKET ENGINES
The Antares is powered by a pair of Soviet-era NK-33 engines
refurbished by GenCorp Inc's Aerojet Rocketdyne division and resold
as AJ-26 motors.
In May, an AJ-26 exploded during a ground test in Mississippi.
GenCorp shares on Wednesday dropped 5.4 percent to $16.26.
 Glenn Mahone, an Aerojet spokesman, said it was working closely with
investigators but declined to comment further. With the GenCorp engine involved in two accidents, concerns over the
availability of Russian engines for use in U.S. rockets have
intensified. Russia has threatened to suspend exports in response to
U.S. trade sanctions prompted by Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's
Crimea region.
The accident should have no impact on ferrying crew to and from the
station, all of whom fly aboard Russian Soyuz capsules.
It was unclear how much Tuesday's explosion would cost Orbital. The
rocket was insured for around $40 million to $50 million of losses,
insurance sources said. One source pinned the loss at $48 million.
Willis Group Holdings Plc, the broker for the insurance risk,
declined to comment.
(Additional reporting by Sagarika Jaisinghani in Bangalore and Mike
Stone in New York; Writing by Frank McGurty; Editing by James
Dalgleish, Sharon Bernstein and Ken Wills)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
